Pavement-joint-filling machine



Filed May 25, 1928 Patented Jan. 8, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS FITZGERALD, OF FREDON IA, NEW YORK.

PAVEMENT-JOINT-FILLING MACHINE.

Application filed May 25,

This invention relates to an improvement in pavement joint filling machines and more particularly to one of a hand operated type adapted for use in building and repairing highway and street avements.

In its preferred em odiment this invention relates to improvements in portable machines or devices of the sort disclosed in my Patents No. 905,719, dated November 7, 1905, and N 0. 1,052,578 dated Feb. 11, 1913, which are used in the construction of pavement for pouring melted asphalt, pitch or other analogous binding or filling material into the joints or crevices between paving blocks or other cracked road surfaces.

The principal object of this invention is to produce a practical, desirable and efiicient machine which can be readily operated to pour the melted material into crevices and cracks without spreading it over the surface of the pavement thereby wasting the material and leaving an objectionable finish to the road surface. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple and eflicient means of keeping the crevice filling material in a liquid or pourab-le state while within the machine in order that it will readily flow into a given crevice to completely fill it.

A further object of this invention is to provide a non-rigid discharge spout secured to a guide member adapted to follow the direction of the crack or crevice whereby material may be directed into all manner of crevices regardless of their irregularity.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and in which :Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of this invention, parts being broken away to enable a clearer understanding thereof;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and illustrates the con-' struction and location of an inner container suspended within the outer container;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, illustrating the burner by which the material is heated and also the manner of guiding the fluid from the container tothe roadway;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating the pivot means by which the inner container is suspended;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view 1928. Serial No. 280,565.

illustrating the valve which controls the flow of asphalt from the discharge nozzle;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the rear wall of the outer container and illustrates the position of the valve rod and guide knife rod with relation to each other; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary View illustrating a modification of the guiding means for the flow or discharge nozzle. 1

For the sake of brevity and clearness, the filling material will be referred to hereinafter as asphalt but it will be understood that any desired filling or binding material necessary in road construction or repairing may be used.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, this invention comprises an outer compartment indicated by the reference numeral 10 and an innercompartment or fluid holding vessel 11. in a horizontal position to the side walls 13 of the compartment 10 are support members 14. The members 14 are providedwith axle stubs 15 upon which wheels 16 are secured. The support members 14 continue rearwardly beyond the axle shafts 15 as shown at 17 Secured to the portion 17 of the support members 14 are handles 19 which extend upwardly and rearwardly away from the con.- tainer 10 and terminate in grip members 20. A pivotal member 21 is secured midway of one handle 19, the purpose of which is to support the machine in an upright position when it is not in use. Secured to one of the handles 19, adjacent'it-s upper end, is a fuel container 23 which is provided with an outlet pipe 24 and a control valve 25, the purpose of the container 23 and valve 25 will later be described. A valve control lever .27 is lpivotally mounted in one of the grip memers 20 and has secured thereto a flexible cable 28 which passes over a pulley 29 and I thence to a valve control rod 30, said pulley and valve rod being supported'by an angle bracket 32 pivotally mounted upon the rear wall of the compartment 10, said pivot constituting the supporting means for the pivotal inner container 11.

The compartment 10 is rovided with a removable cover 34 having anges 35 which en- Secured gage the upper edges of the walls of said c'om- V partment. A suitable handle 36 is secured to the cover34 and a plurality of openings 37 are made in the cover 34 to permit the use of a burner in the base of the com artment 10. The compartment 10 is provide with an inwhic a wardly and forwardly pitched base wall 38 and has located thereon a burner 39 comprising a tapered trough member 40 in which is placed an asbestos wick 41. The lower end of the pipe 24 extending from the fuel supply tank 23 terminates directl above the rearward and enlarged end 0 the wick 41. It may be readily seen that by opening the valve 25 any desired amount of fuel from the tank 23 willpass from the pipe 24 onto the wick 41 and be retained therein through absorption by the wick. Adjacent the bottom wall 38 andilocated in the front wall 43 ,of the container 10 is a vertically sliding door 44. By raising the door 44 access may be had'to the burner 39 and to the bottom of the inner compartment 11.

The rear wall 46 of the compartment 10 is provided with a horizontal slot 47 cut therethrough, This slot is cutsubstantially two-thirds of the width of the rear wall and is concentric withthe center of said wall. Within the container 11 and joined to the base wall 49 and rear wall 50 is a fairly coarse mesh screen 51. The screen 51 is sufliciently remote from the pipe 52 by which egress for the asphalt is provided in order that a greater uantity' of fluid may be filtered at one time t an would be possible if the screen inclosed only the opening in the pipe 52. The pipe 52 terminates in a Valve53 which is operated by means of the control lever 27 cable 28 and rod .30. The rod 30 is looped at 54 in order that the cable 28 may be secured thereto.

The pipe 52, during operation of the machine,

will move from one side to the other of the container 10 through the slot 47 pivotally moving the container 11. The rod 30, being joined to the valve 53, will swing in pendulum fashion upon its supporting bracket 32 when the valve and discharge nozzle are moved.

The lower end of the rod 54 terminates in a late 55 which, when thevalve is closed, rests in a slot 56 provided therefor.

Rigidly secured to the outlet side of the valve 53'is a flow pipe or discharge nozzle 58, the/end of which, when the device is in the position shown in the drawing, is slightly end of t e blade 64 terminates in. a tapered knife like portion 65 which is adapted to follow a creviceor crack when the machine is in use and thereby direct the nozzle upon said crevice in order that the asphalt may flow into and completely fillthe crevice. he upper end of the blade 64 is pivotally secured to a rod 67 which extends upwardly adjacent the 1 Wall 46 of the compartment 10 and is guided ide lade 64 is located. The lower against any but substantially vertical movement by the bracket 32.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modification of the guiding means. In this instance a wheel 70 supported upon a rod 71 similar to the rod 67 acts as the guiding means for the discharge nozzle 58. The wheel 70, following the crevice directly in front of the nozzle 58, acting as a guide therefor and moving from side to side carries with it the nozzle, valve and free end of the container 11. In certain instances applicant has found it more desirable to provide a rotating guide member rather than one which slides. The knife guide 64 is preferably used when building or repairing highways since the crevices therein are of a considerable depth and prevent the guide 64 from jumping out of place. How ever, when used in filling crevices or cracks in street pavements and side walks the wheel 70 is preferable since it will cut its way intoand accurately follow any slight crevice.

Attention is called to the fact that the wheel stubs 15 are located slightly to the rear of the container 10 and substantially in vertical alignment with the nozzle 58. It may readily be seen that by reason of this it is possible to make very small or sharp turns in following crevices and at the same time be assured that the nozzle will accurately follow such turns. This ,applies particularly to city pavements and side walks. However, when a device of this kind is used in building or repairing highways where the crevices or cracks do not curve sharply and also where it is desired to carry at one time a greater quantity of asphalt, larger containers 10 and 11 are provided and the axle stubs 15 are then located substantially midway of the side walls of the outer container 10. The nozzle 58 is then considerably to the rear of the Vertical line of the axles and the device is of necessity somewhat limited to crevices which are less irregular.

When it is desired to operate this machine to fill crevices or cracks which have occurred in roadways it is necessary to fill the inner container 11 withheated asphalt. .Obviously the asphalt will not remain hot unless continual heat is applied and since asphalt will not flow unless it is hot the burner 39 is provided. As soon as the asphalt has been poured into the container 11 the valve 25 adjacent one of the-handles 19 is opened and fuel is (permitted to pass through the pipe 24 an drop on the wick 41 of the burner 39 The door 44 in the wall of the outer compartment 10 may now be raised and a light applied tothe fuel. The extent the valve 25 need be opened must be gauged by the operator and depends largely upon the amount of asphalt within the container 11 blade 64 enters a crevice to be .filled.

of the time between filling and discharging, the burner 39' will maintain a heat of sufficient intensity to prevent the asphalt from becoming thick or returning to a solidified state. It remains only necessary to take hold of the grips and push the machine into a position such that the end 65 of the guide The lever 27 located in one of the grips 20 is drawn rearwardlythereby opening the valve 53 and allowing the asphalt to pass from within the container 11 through the pipe 52, valve 53 and nozzle 58 into the crevice directly behind the guide blade 64. Obvious it is impossible. due to unevenness of the road or i the lack of skill in manipulating this machine, for the operator to push the machine in exact line with the crevice to be filled. It is not impossible for him, however, to push the machine in the direction desired without varying more than a few inches and since the container 11 is pivotally mounted by means of the rod 66, which passes through the front and rear walls of said container and enters the adjacent walls of the outer container 10, it is possible for the guide knife 64 to move from side to side carrying with it the nozzle 58 and tipping the container 11 slightly to right or left. As shownin Fig. 2 of the drawing, the walls of the container are sufii'ciently tapered to provide for a considerable movement of the lower end either to the right, or left. .If for any reason the knife blade jumps out of the crevice, the operator can instantly release the lever 27 thereby shutting off the flow of preventing loss thereof.

A further novelty of this invention lies in the vertical adjustability of the guide knife 64 and rod 67. WVhen the guide knife 64.- moves from the center to one side, it is necessary that it drop lower with-relation to the nozzle 58 in order to remain within the crevice in which it is moving. This'is made posasphalt and I sible by the guide bracket 32 which is adapted to pivot upon the rod 66 when the guide rod 67 moves horizontally thus allowing the rod 67 and knife 64 all necessary vertical movement. Sprin s 68 encircle the guide rod 67 d 54 tending to force both ofand valve r0 said rods downwardly. By means of the spring upon the valve rod 54 the valve 53 is prevented from inadvertently opening and because of the spring upon the rod 67 the guide blade 64 is, at all times during opera:

tion of the device, exerting downward pressure into the crevice or crack in which it is located. The pressure of the spring tends to prevent the wide rod from jumping out of the crevice any obstruction in the crevice. It has been foundthat through the use of a device embodying the construction above described the expense in time and labor is greatly decreased and the work of filling crevices is done in when the knife edge strikesa far more satisfactory manner than was While only two modifications of this invention have been shown and described, applicant is not tobe limited thereto, since it is obvious that other modifications or adaptations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim 1. A pavement joint filling machine comprising a pair of containers one within the other, a wheel supported frame rigidly secured to said outer container, means pivotally supporting said inner container adjacent its upper end with relation to said outer container and a discharge nozzle connecting said inner container'with the exterior of said outer container whereby fluid may pass from said inner container throughsaid discharge nozzle and into apavement joint.

2. A pavement joint filling machine comprising a'pair of containers one within the other, a wheel supported frame rigidly secured to said outer container, means pivotany supporting said inner container with re- 3. A pavement joint filling machine com-' prising a pair of containers one within the other, a wheel supported frame secured to said outer container, handle guides terminating said frame, a valve controlled discharge'nozzle secured to and connecting said inner container with the exterior of said outer container, a burner secured upon the base wall of said outer container 'and beneath said inner container, non-rigid means joined to said discharge nozzle and adapted to retain said nozzle in alignment with a pavement joint durinIg filling.

4. n a pavementjoint filling machine, inner and outer containers, said inner container tapering in width from the upper to the lower end thereof, means pivotally supporting said inner container with relation to said outer zle opening into and secured to the lower end of said inner container, curved walls definin a slot in said outer container, said slot being in alignmentwith the opening in said inner container andada-pted to permit connection of said discharge nozzle with said inner container.

6. In a pavement joint filling machine, in.-

ner and outer containers, said inner container adjacent the base thereof being provided with a screened opening, curved Walls defining a slot in said outer container adjacent said opening in said inner container, a valve controlled discharge nozzle connected with said inner container through the slotted opening a screened opening, curved Walls defining a slot in said outer container adjacent said opening in said inner container, a valve controlled discharge nozzle connected with said outer container, vertically yieldably and horizon tally movable discharge nozzle guiding means, said means being adapted to retain said discharge nozzle in alignment with a pavement joint during filling.

8. In a pavement joint filling machine, in-

ner and outer containers, said inner container adjacent the base thereof being provided with a screened opening, curved walls defining a slot in said outer container adjacent said opening in said inner container, 21. valve controlled discharge nozzle connected with said outer container and a vertically yieldable knife guide positioned directly in front of said discharge nozzle and adapted to move said discharge nozzle from side to side to retain it in alignment with a pavement joint during filling.

l 9. A pavement joint filling machine comprising a pair of containers, one Within'the other, a wheel supported frame rigidly secured to said outer container, guide handles terminating said frame, a valve controlled discharge nozzle secured to and connecting said inner container with the exterior of said outer container, means secured to one of said handles for opening and closing the valve of said discharge nozzle, a burner secured upon the base Wall of said outer container and beneath said inner container, a fuel tank and valve controlled fuel line supported by' said frame, said fuel line terminating above the rearward end of said burner, and a vertically yieldable and horizontally movable knife guide positioned in front of said discharge nozzle and adapted to move said discharge nozzle from side to side by reason of which it will follow a pavement joint during filling thereof.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

THOMAS FITZGERALD. 

